


Dreams and Realities

by ladygray99



Series: Who We Are [3]
Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Community: numb3rs100, Drabble Sequence, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-22
Updated: 2012-03-22
Packaged: 2017-11-02 08:59:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/367247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladygray99/pseuds/ladygray99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has bad dreams but there are ways of dealing with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dreams and Realities (#330 Paralyze)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for mustangcandi for her cupcake knowledge.

Most nights Charlie crawled into David’s arms and slept. He would take a deep breath and between that one and the next he would just sink into sleep. In the morning he would wake with a yawn and a smile. Most nights he slept well. Some nights he didn’t.

There were nights when Charlie would thrash and cry out, wake up babbling about bullets or bullies. There were other night, fewer but worse, when Charlie wouldn’t cry out but instead just cry. David only saw it a few time, in the dead of night, Charlie deep asleep, the tears streaming down his face.

David tried to wake him from those dreams but it was hard as if some demon in Charlie’s head was fighting him. He would eventually shake Charlie hard and call his name until his eyes snapped open. He would bury his face in David’s chest until he fell asleep again.

It had taken Don getting drunk to find out Charlie had always had nightmares.

It had taken Charlie getting drunk, something he rarely did anymore, to find out what the nightmares were.

“When I was little I wasn’t sure if I was a real human. I heard some things that other kids said, and even adults. I started wondering if maybe I was an android or some genetic experiment that my parents were being paid to raise. I’d have nightmares where I was paralyzed on a table and watching scientists pull circuit boards out of my chest. I’d try to tell them I was real but they’d just show me bits of myself, tubes and wires, tell me I was broken, that I needed to be fixed.”

That night David pressed his lips to Charlie’s ears. “You are real,” he whispered. “Whole, human, perfect, beautiful and real.”


	2. Proof of Life (#354 Ghost)

David had nightmares. They were bad at the start when David was being chased by the ghosts of Tel Aviv and lovers long past. He would twitch and mumble in his sleep. Charlie was afraid to wake him, unsure what to do. Susan never had nightmares. Amita’s troubled dreams were silent.

The night Charlie heard his own name and could make out David’s face twisted in sorrow he acted. He put his hand to David’s shoulder and began to shake.

“David, wake up,” he whispered harshly. “David, you’re having a bad dream, wake up, please.”

David’s eyes snapped open. He drew great gulps of air. Then he grabbed Charlie, and squeezed him until Charlie gave a little cough. Then David threw back the blankets and turned on the lights. He touched Charlie all over, ran his fingers through his hair, pressed his hands to Charlie’s chest feeling him breathe. Only when he seemed sure that Charlie was there, alive, and whole did he turn the lights back off and hold Charlie close.

They never mentioned it in the morning.

Charlie was good at finding patterns and learned what triggered the dreams. When he didn’t respond to a text or call within four hours. Stretches when they didn’t have a few minutes to themselves for at least three days. Anytime Charlie was in the line of fire or threated.

Charlie knew he couldn’t do much about the last one but the first two were fixable. A few lines of code and his phone beeped if he didn’t respond to a text from David within three hours. Some threats to Don let him sneak into the back of the surveillance van to give David a kiss. And for the rest he just held David close so David always knew he was alive.


	3. Nights Past and Present (#314 Touch)

Don peeked his head into Charlie’s room. Well, Charlie and David’s room. There weren’t many night now that they spent apart. He didn’t want to wake them. He didn’t particularly want to be awake himself. They’d gone nonstop for days. Don had hoped the criminal element of LA would be kind enough to let them have one good night’s sleep.

David was spooned around Charlie’s back, arms wrapped around him. Don couldn’t actually work out how they could sleep like that. Don liked a good cuddle but he needed to be able to move in the night.

Suddenly Charlie twitched and gave a small whimper, his face scrunching up. Don stepped into the room without thinking. Even after all these years he knew what was happening, he’d seen it enough when they were kids. In a second Charlie would kick then curl into himself.

Don only got as far as a step into the room. One of David’s arms tightened around Charlie, his free hand stroked Charlie’s hair. Still basically asleep David started to mutter something. Charlie twitched once more then went still, his face slipping back into deep sleep.

Don just stared as David kept up his petting of Charlie for a few more seconds before becoming still himself. Don had spent years growing up dealing with a teary-eyed Charlie trying to climb into his bed or listening to him cry out through the walls. He’d felt like the most horrible person on Earth when Charlie was eight and he told Charlie he was too big to be climbing into his bed anymore.

But here was Charlie now, all grown up, in bed with someone larger and stronger who could sooth those dreams with a touch and a word.

Don knew he’d never give David a hard time again.


End file.
